Mitali Perkins was born in Kolkata, India and emigrated to the United States with her family when she was seven years old. She writes fiction for younger teens and chats about books and life between cultures on the Fire Escape. You can read PaperTigers’ two interviews with Mitali here and here. She is the author of six award winning books, including Bamboo People, Rickshaw Girl and Secret Keeper. Her newest book , an anthology of fiction, poetry, and memoir edited by Mitali will release from Candlewick in September 2013. This is definitely a book to put on your “must read” list and Mitali is giving you a chance to win an advanced reader copy by leaving a comment on her blog. Here are the details:

“…Naomi Shihab Nye offers an eloquent poem about her Arab American dad, whose open friendliness made him ‘Facebook before it existed.’ David Yoo, Debbie Rigaud, Varian Johnson, and Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich also contribute stories to this noteworthy anthology, which robustly proves Perkins’ assertion that ‘funny is powerful.’”

“…David Yoo’s excellent ‘Becoming Henry Lee’ is the one that will probably elicit the most laughs. But all invite sometimes rueful smiles or chuckles of recognition. And all demonstrate that in the specific we find the universal, and that borders are meant to be breached.”